Stuffing box



w. B. RHEEs 2,111,733 -sTUFF1NG BOX Filed July 9,1 1955 March 22, 1938.

@Jim/fw M@ ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 22, 1938 Y Sinclairflal Y corporation Application illy" 9' This invention relates to an improved-'stiiiflng box of special value in application," at thelc'as inghead, to the polish rod i ypuin-pingWells/2.''L'Il'lis u stuing box, however, is oi general application,` i and is of special utilityY ing 'similar requirements. N

In the conventional rigV forfoperating plunger pumps in oil wells, a stringoi suckerfrods'rec'iprocated by a walking beam operates 'a plunger pump at the lower end of 'the well Therionnectionsbetween. the surface-'and th I of the well comprise a'stringfof'fcas g1w string of tubing, throughwhichthe plu' ge" puin'p discharges, disposedwithin the/casing. Theca'sl5 ing and tubing terminate; atthe surfac'a ina vcasinghead, gas being discharged .frorhth'e c -ing through one connection 4and{i'l"being-fji l charged from the tubing throughanotherf'con'- nection. The string of sucker frods i's' 'connected to a polish rod which, at-trl'iecasinglheafd, extends through a stuing boxi*This-invention provides an improved stulin'gboxhaving'several important advantages infSuchfuse 5M- Regularity of operation isfof'lcoiir to economical operation 'oi a` pumpi packing of the conventional stuf'" viously used in thisconnection has nvolii terruption of thel operation and, toflprfolon period between such Y interruptioiis,4 -it` f has-'vr-been necessaryV to fit the bushings 'used-in' stuffing boxes with great precision in'rdefrltprotect the packing to minimize requirements of repacking except in connection with replacement of Worn bushings. WithA the conventional stuiting box, moreover, the stuffing box proper must be removed from the polish rod to permit the replacement of the bushings. Also with the conventional stufling box, repacking has ordinarily involved the discarding of used packing material in the stufng box at the time of the replacement. Y

The improved stuffing box of this invention facilitates the replacement of stuffing box bushings and makes it possible to replace such bushings Without removing the stuffing box from the polish rod, minimizing any interruption of ope eration for replacement of bushings, it permits repacking or replacement of the packing material in the stuffing box Without interrupting operation, minimizing the number of any interruptions oi operation, and it affords improved economy with respect to packing material.

The-improved stuffing box oi this invention .comprises essentially, a tube internally threaded at both ends, a nipple threaded into one end f1 ,Maine ein (C, '.2 t Y Y `and 1a gland .threaded into the other koi'ifhis tube end; apair 'of flangedand split bushings, one of these'frbushings bein'gi'prositioned in .the nipple with'sitsifiangeiover the end oi the nipple within the tubeif: and `theother being Vpositioned Within `5 '-thelglandwith its flange-over the end of the glandf within the tube,.both of these bushings `bein'gre'movable through the end of the tube into which-fthe glandisthreadedWhen the gland is removemand'means opening into the space withl0 he'itubewbetwe'en the'bushings for forcing 1packing;materialintothis space without removing 'either'.of the' bushings."

ff'Qnel-:i'ormof 'stuiiing box embodying the in- 'ventionis i illustrated in some detail in the ac- `15 companying drawing. In this drawing Fig.` 1 is: elevation partly inv section through a stufng Ibox-'fe'ribod'ying:tlfle'invention as applied to a 'pumping'welL a portion of the polish rod and ca's'inghead being shown, and Fig. 2 is -a detail 20 -of= one of the bushings illustrated in Fig. l, a view normall tofthe sectionconstituting Fig. l. 4i=`f1;Referringmoreparticularly to Figs. 1 and 2 of the `drawing, 'the stuiiing box illustrated compri'sesa` tube -I4`constitutinga body portion, this y25 ftubebeinginternally threaded at both ends, a nipple IE5 Vtl'ireaded into the llower end and a gland I6 *threaded into the upper end of this. tube, a pair `of flanged and split bushings I'I and I8' positioned in the bore of the nipple and in 30 `thebore ofthe gland, respectively, and a Ypair of'compressi'ontubes I9 andlZIl'for forcing packing-fma-te'rial into the space-within the tube'l between the bushings I'I and IB through open-V ings 2I and 22. Each ci the compression tubes 35 IS and 2U is tted with a threaded ram but it` willbe apparent that other forcingv means can be used. One, two or more such compression tubes can be used, but a. pair of oppositely arranged compression tubes has been found to be 40 advantageous. The bore of the compression tubes is with advantage made small with respect to the internal diameter of the tube I4 to fa- -cilitate the introduction of packing material and to minimize any tendency for packing material 45 to be forced outwardly through the compression tubes. In the assembled stuffing box, the bushings I'I and I8 are positioned axially by the bores of they nipple and the gland and are held in place by the flangesV with which the bushings are provided in cooperation with the packing material positioned between the inner ends of the bushings, the iianges of the bushings being Ypositioned Y over the inner ends of the nipple and the gland. These bushings are proportioned so that they can be removed through the end of the tube I4 into which the gland I8 is threaded when this gland is removed. 'I'he bushings II and I8 are split, on planes parallel to the axis of the stuffing box when in position in the stufliing box, into two sections, three sections as illustrated (see 2) or more. By making the bore of the nipple i5 and the gland I6 of the same diameter, identical bushings, and bushing sections, can be used making all bushing parts interchangeable. By making the body portion of the bushing lil somewhat shorter than the bore of the gland I6, a space within the upper part of the gland I6 is provided adapted to receive oil or other lubricant for lubricating the polish rod I2.

Once installed and initially packed, repacking of the improved stufi'ing box of this invention is carried out without interrupting the operation of the polish rod, the required additional packing being inserted in one or more of the compression tubes and forced into the stuiiing box by operation of the threaded ram in the construction illustrated. This operation requires but a minimum of time, two or three minutes usually being sufficient. Moreover, this operation does not involve the handling or suspension of heavy parts of the stufling box and, in this aspect, the invention saves many smashed ngers and hands. For example, repacking of the conventional stuffing box usually requires a heavy gland to be suspended around the polish rod immediately above the body of the stuffing box during the repacking, a cause of many hand and finger accidents involving serious injury. Such hazards are completely eliminated by theimproved stufling box of this invention.

Replacement of either or both of the bushings in the improved stumng box of the invention involves interruption of the operation of the polish rod, but the replacement operation is so simple as to require but a minimum of time. In the construction illustrated, the gland I6 is unscrewed from the upper end of the body portion of the stuffing box, permitting the bushings I'I and I8 to be slid out of the body of the stufling box along the polish rod and then, the bushings being split, to be simply lifted away from the polish rod. Reverse operation involved in inserting a new bushing is equally simple. Used packing removed from the stuiiing box as an incident to bushing replacement can be used t0 repack the stufng box upon replacement of the bushings, or this initial repacking can be done with new material and the used packing can be supplied, through the compression tubes, as make-up material as additional packing is required.

As will be apparent, the improved stufng box of this invention is of inexpensive construction notwithstanding the fact that it can be repacked without interrupting operation.

Actual embodiments of the stuffing box of this invention have been in continuous operation in regular service on oil wells for periods upwards of seven months without interruption of operation of the polish rod and without any substantial loss of oil through the stuiiing box.

I claim:

1. A stuiiing box comprising a tube internally threaded at both ends, a nipple threaded into one end of said tube and a gland threaded into the other, a pair of flanged and split bushings, one of said bushings being positioned in said nipple with the flange over the end of the nipple within the tube, the other of said bushings being positioned in said gland with the ange over the end of the gland within the tube, both o1" 'said bushings being removable through the end of the tube into which the gland is threaded when the gland is removed, and means opening into the space within said tube between said bushings for forcing packing material into this space without removing either of said bushings.

2. A stuffing box comprising a tubular body element internally threaded at both ends, a nipple threaded into one end of said tubular body element and a gland threaded into the other, a pair of flanged and split bushings, one of said bushings being positioned in said nipple with the flange over the end of the nipple within the tubular body element, the other of said bushings being positioned in said gland with the flange over the end of the gland within the tubular body element, both of said bushings being removable through the end of the tubular body element into which the gland is threaded when the gland is removed, and means opening into the space within said tubular body element between said bushings for forcing packing material into the space without removing either of said bushings, said last-mentione'd means comprising a plurality of compression tubes of substantially smaller bore than the bore of said tubular body and each fitted with a. threaded ram.

WILLIAM B. RHEES. 

